Naruto - Shinigami on the Prowl
by Ria Risa
Summary: Naruto dies in his battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End and is sent to the Soul Society where he joins the Gotei 13. Three years later Naruto becomes the Captain of the 3rd Division shortly after the Ryoka Invasion before he, along with Ichigo and Renji, is sent on a mission to the Shinobi World; What will happen when Naruto ends up in Konoha? CURRENTLY UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
1. Prologue

**Naruto: Shinigami on the Prowl**

Hi Minna ! I'm Ria Risa and I adopted this story from u/4003235/ Rocker1600 It seems that he is a bit busy so I shall take on the roll to update this story ^^

This story was the winner of a poll that contained three other story ideas; since another one of the ideas garnered much zeal from the ones who voted for it I will write it as well though not for a while. Anyways I hope you like this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach.

**Prologue**

[Valley of the End, Shinobi World]

_Three Years Before The Current Time…._

This valley, on the border of the Lands of Fire and Sound, was once the sight of a legendary battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju more than a century ago; the valley became a scar on the earth itself, the two shinobi that fought here forever etched into the valley by the two statues that lined the waterfall that ran through this place. It is here, in the shadow of these famed warriors, that two other shinobi were fighting in a desperate battle of their own.

These two shinobi were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha; the manipulations going on around them had poisoned Sasuke's mind as he tried to kill his best friend in order gain the fabled Mangekyō Sharingan. Naruto, meanwhile, was desperately trying to stop Sasuke from leaving Konoha to join the vile shinobi Orochimaru, who wanted to take Sasuke's body for his own. Despite his efforts, however, Naruto was unable to convince his best friend to see error of his ways and had to use more force as their battle reached its ultimate climax; Sasuke prepared to use his Curse Mark-enhanced Chidori while Naruto prepared his Kyubi-enhanced Rasengan. With their jutsus fully charged Naruto and Sasuke at each other, their jutsus colliding before exploding, which caused severe damage to the statues of the famed founders of Konoha.

Sasuke was knocked back by the explosion, smaking into the statue of Madara before falling to the ground, still alive but unconcious and critically injured. Fate was, tragically, not so kind to Naruto who was pierced though his heart by Sasuke's Chidori and was launched into the lake below, his body further paralyzed by the electricity generated by the lighting-style jutsu; as Naruto fell further down into the depths of the lake he could barely hear the Kyubi's voice as he appeared before the Beast's cage.

"_Wake up, you fool; we're dying!_" the Tailed Beast yelled; the Kyubi's attempt to rally his Jinchuriki was a useless gesture, however, as Naruto's were too grave for even him to heal.

"_You know as well as I do that we're already dead, Kyubi,_" Naruto replied; before the Kyubi could say anything, however, Naruto said something that shock the Tailed Beast.

"_I was hoping to do something about your hatred someday as well; I guess that's now going to be impossible, however. I'm sorry, Kyubi, for letting you_ _down,_" the dying ninja said; the Kyubi was, naturally, stunned by this. The Kyubi wouldn't have believed what his Jinchuriki just said except for the fact that the look in Naruto's eyes had a serious a look as they've ever been.

"_Normally I would have accused someone who said that of lying to me; for some reason, however, I can tell that you're being honest with me. (sighs) Maybe if we had lived that might've succeeded,_" the Kyubi said as the darkness began to consume him and Naruto.

"_I wanted to ask you something, Kyubi, and since we're dying I might as well ask it now; do you have a real name?_" Naruto asked. This shocked the Kyubi; no one since the time of the Sage of the Six Paths had ever thought to ask for his name.

"_Since you're not as bad as I thought I guess I can tell you; my name... is Kurama,_" he said as the last vestiges of life within him and Naruto vanished, but not before Naruto commented on the Tailed Beast's name.

"_So you're name is Kurama, huh? I think it suits you. (sighs) Farewell, Kurama,_" Naruto said as he awaited the afterlife, unaware that he and Kurama would not be so easily separated...

[Konoha Hospital]

_Meanwhile..._

Kakashi had just brought Sasuke back from the Valley of End, having found his unconcious body; he had not found any sign of Naruto and had assumed that he would be healed by the Kyubi and would return to Konoha within a couple of hours.

As a team of medics, lead by the Tsunade, were treating Sasuke for his wounds, which bordered on the mortal level, Kakashi was trying to calm down Sakura, who had arrived at the hospital upon receiving and who surprised her sensei with her reaction. She was angry... but not at Naruto.

"How could you leave Naruto alone like that, Kakashi-sensei?! You saw what he had to do just to stop Sasuke from leaving; he's probably badly hurt now as well!" Sakura yelled.

"Sasuke was the only one I found, Sakura; I wouldn't worry him, though. His wounds have always healed quickly so he probably won't be gone for no more than a couple of hours," Kakashi reassured his squad member; what he didn't was that it actually going to take a few years before Naruto returned and, even then, it would not last...

* * *

Shortly after dying Naruto arrived in the Soul Society where he was greeted by his Minato and Kushina, his parents, who had sensed their son's presence when they felt the power of Kurama. Naruto was surprised, though strangely relieved, to find out that Kurama was still inside him; the Tailed Beast was still bound to Naruto's soul. It didn't take Naruto long to made good on his promise to Kurama, earning his trust and shortly thereafter, as an unintended benefit, full access to his powers.

After reuniting with the Third Hokage and meeting several other shinobi, all of whom had become shinigami, (A/N: The full list of shinobi in the Gotei 13, with their respective ranks, can be seen at the end of this chapter) Naruto decided to become a shinigami himself and entered the Shino Academy. Naruto was surprised to fact out that he was considered a prodigy there, and apparently the best one the Gotei 13 have had to date; he was also surprised by, though was happy with, the fact that no one cared about his status as a Jinchuriki and, as such, did not suffer from the prejudices that he had to deal with back in Konoha. This allowed to befriend people more easily and allowed him to reach his full potential as a shinigami.

Naruto's skills and power allowed him to graduate from the Academy in one year; Naruto joined the 13th division after he graduated and his captain, Jūshirō Ukitake, decided to make the blonde his lieutenant, making Naruto the first lieutenant of that division since the death of Kaien Shiba.

This was where Naruto found himself, 18 months later, when "they" arrived...

Next Time - The Ryoka

A/N: I hope that this story is as good as my other two; anyways, here's the standing of the shinobi in the Gotei 13 (Bleach Shinigamis who had their ranks changed will appear, with their new rank, underlined):

* * *

2nd Division (Captain Sui-Feng):

Haku Yuki[the name of his clan], Lieutenant.

Marechiyo Ōmaeda, 3rd Seat

5th Division (Captain Sosuke Aizen):

Minato Namikaze, Lieutenant

Kushina Uzumaki, 3rd Seat

Momo Hinamori, 4th Seat

8th Division (Captain Shunsui Kyōraku):

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Lieutenant

Nanao Ise, 3rd Seat

9th Division (Captain Kaname Tosen):

Fugaku Uchiha, Lieutenant

Shisui Uchiha, 3rd Seat

Mikoto Uchiha, 4th Seat

Shuhei Hisagi, 5th Seat

11th (Captain Kenpachi Zaraki):

Zabuza Momochi, 4th Seat

13th Division (Captain Jūshirō Ukitake):

Naruto Uzumaki, Lieutenant

* * *

Some ranks will change as the story progresses.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Ryoka**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and/or Bleach

[6th Division Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Current Time…_

The small prison cell in the barracks was seldom without an occupant thanks to Byakuya Kuchiki's strict adherence to the law; the person imprisoned in the cell right now was a special case, however, for it was none other than Byakuya's younger sister-in-law, Rukia. The adopted member of the Kuchiki family was currently speaking to her longtime friend Renji Abarai, who was getting annoyed with her comments about his new promotion to lieutenant of the 6th Division.

"Do a good job, lieutenant. You're very strong, lieutenant. You have weird eyebrows, lieutenant," Rukia said as an irritated Renji grab the bars of the cell.

"That's it, damn it. Let me at her; I'm gonna-" Renji said until both he and Rukia sensed a very large, and very familiar, surge of reiatsu emanated nearby and approached them; Renji's face paled as he knew what was that meant.

"Ummm... maybe you should run, Renji," Rukia said, knowing full well who was the source of the reiatsu.

Renji, heeding his friend's advice, began to run towards the only door in and out of the prison room; unfortunately for Renji it was too late for him to run as that door suddenly flew off its hinges and smacked the bars of the cell before it shattered into millions of pieces. Renji flinched heavily when he heard the culprit's voice.

"TATTOO-BROWS!" the voice roared as the person charged into the cell... and right at Renji.

"Please calm down, Naruto; I swear I can explain-" Renji pleaded before he was silenced by a kick to the face, courtesy of the 13th Division lieutenant.

"You went to arrest Rukia and attacked her; you think you can just explain that way?!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Renji by his shihakusho and shook him until he was almost unconcious.

Normally both he and Renji were good friends and were basically brothers; after he was informed of Renji's actions during Rukia's arrest, however, Naruto's temper which, among many of Naruto's other attributes, has become legendary in the past year and a half was unleashed. His temper did not flare up often but when it did there was little anyone could do to stop him if no one from the shinobi world, or at least a close friend, was nearby.

Thankfully, for Renji, Rukia was there.

"Please stop it, Naruto; it's not worth hurting Renji," Rukia pleaded getting the attention of her commanding officer... who let go of the badly bruised Renji. Naruto ran up to her cell.

"Rukia, are you hurt?" Naruto asked her with obvious concern.

"I'm alright, Naruto; just a little down, that's all," Rukia said as she thought about her lieutenant's very strong protective nature.

He was always like this with the members of his squad; like a shepherd to his flock he was very concerned over the safety and well being of the members of the 13th Division and Rukia, knowing her lieutenant far too well, knew that even if he was, for whatever reason, transferred to another division that sentiment would still be there.

Naruto nodded but before he said anything, however, Renji managed to get up.

"Naruto, I know you're upset, and I'm really sorry for what I did, but can you at least let me speak to Rukia in peace?" Renji asked to which Naruto sighed.

"Fine, but the next time something like this happens again, Tattoo-Brows, I swear to Kami you'll be facedown on the ground eating bricks faster than you can say 'Tailed Beast'," Naruto warned, still simmering from his latest outburst.

"In any case I have to report to Old Man Ukitake right now so I'll come back to check on you later, Rukia," Naruto said to which both Rukia and Renji nodded.

As Naruto left the 6th Division barracks he couldn't help but think of his father's warning earlier in the day... when he had been running of few errands for his captain.

"_I didn't want to tell you this just yet, but now it seems that the time to wait has finally passed. Keep a close eye on my captain whenever you're in his presence, as I fear this is his doing,_" Minato warned him, though there wasn't a real need to do so.

Unlike the rest of the Gotei 13 the shinobi-turned-shinigami, who were known as "shinobigami" by many of their colleagues, had suspected Aizen of plotting something along with Ichimaru and Tosen; they had even figured out the true nature of Aizen's zanpakuto, a fact that earned him even less trust amongst the shinobigami. Even the thick-headed Naruto could tell something was wrong with those three captains; Naruto's suspicions were also shared by both Kurama and his zanpakuto, which showed just how poor a mask Aizen wore. Because of the fact that the three captains had everyone else in the Gotei 13 fooled, however, the shinobi kept their suspicisions to themselves until they could prove any wrongdoing on the part of those three.

As Naruto raced towards his barracks he clenched his fist at the thought of the the 5th Division Captain.

"_For your sake, Aizen, this better not have anything to do with you,_" Naruto thought to himself; he was unaware of the fact that, even now, the one person Aizen had the most interest in was preparing a daring operation into the heart of the Soul Society itself...

[13th Division Barracks, Seireitei]

_More Than A Week Later..._

Naruto had woken up before daybreak, as he had since the day he had visited Rukia; there was too much on his mind for him to sleep. It had already been a trying week since Rukia's arrest as Naruto sat on the roof of this barracks to watch the sunrise.

First the execution sentenced out to his friend occured, then his subsequent arguement with Byakuya nearly coming to blows, though they had both never really seen eye-to-eye on anything before. Byakuya had found Naruto's lack of formality and even greater lack of respect for authority figures displeasurable while Naruto actively despised Byakuya for his poor treatment of his subordinates and, especially, for placing the law even above his own family; this gulf had only gotten worse since Rukia's arrest, with Naruto's parents, Captain Ukitake, and Shisui Uchiha being the only ones that could stop the two shinigami from trying to kill each other.

The final thing that occupied Naruto's mind was the arrival of five intruders to the Rukongai Sector of the Soul Society, one of them being the one whom Rukia had lost her powers to, and their attempt to enter the Seireitei. He especially had mixed feelings over what to think of that guy, who Rukia kept calling Ichigo. On the one hand this Ichigo was responsible for Rukia's predicament; on the other hand, however, he was in the Soul Society now and was, more than likely, trying to save Rukia so Naruto assumed that he actually did care for his friends.

As Naruto pondered his next course of action he felt a familiar reiatsu approach him.

"Good morning, Shisui-sensei. How are you feeling?" Naruto asked the Uchiha who had acted as his teacher since his graduation, teaching him skills that the Shino Academy instructors could not.

"I'm alright, Naruto; I was actually going to ask you the same thing. Both of your parents and Captain Ukitake are worried about you since you haven't been getting much sleep recently," Shisui said. Naruto sighed at this comment.

"I've just had a lot on my mind recently, that's all," Naruto said.

Shisui, thanks to his time as Naruto's master, knew which particular thought was on Naruto's mind at the moment.

"You should wait until the intruders enter the Seireitei first if you plan to confront them," Shisui said; the Uchiha knew that Naruto was planning to confront these intruders, regardless of what anyone tried to do to convince him to do otherwise, as the blonde probably believed that, by confronting them, he might find an answer to a question that must've been bothering him.

"I know, sensei, but I've never been the most patient guy and every day I wait is a day closer to Rukia's-" Naruto said before he and Shisui noticed that a small light appear in the skies above the Seireitei as the sun began to rise.

This light appeared to come closer and closer to the home of the Shinigami until, to the shock of both shinobigami, the light collided with the Soul Shield Membrane that surrounded the Seireitei. The small light was held back by the membrane for a few moment until, to the further shock of Naruto, and the rest of the shinigami, the light broke through the barrier and, after a minute or so, split into four streaks which began to descend to the city below. Everyone in the Seireitei already knew what this meant even before the barrier was breached.

Before Shisui realized it Naruto was already heading towards the nearest light, which he assumed to be one of the intruders.

"_It looks like they've finally arrived; it's time to see what kind of person you truly are, Ichigo Kurosaki,_" Naruto thought as he entered the nearest sewer entrance, having learned the layout of the undergound network a few months prior, in order to approach the intruders without being detected.

[Underground Sewer System, Seireitei]

_Several Hours Later..._

The massive underground network was barley used as its layout was known to a handul of shinigami, most of them from the 4th Division. One of these people, a young man named Hanataro Yamada, was currently navigating the system; what made this foray stand out, however, were the two intruders, who are called Ryoka by most of the other shinigami, who were following him. One of these intruders, a guy with short orange hair and wearing a Soul Reaper shihakusho, walked to Hanataro's side.

"Hey, Hanataro, can I ask you something?" he asked. Hanataro got a little anxious before he nodded in reply.

"When you talked about how there aren't many other shinigami that knew their way around these sewers you looked like you were going to add something to what you were saying before I interrupted you. Could you tell me what you were going to say?" he asked.

"Well... there have been stories over the past few months, Ichigo. Apparently some of the other members of the 4th Division claim that they have seen another shinigami walking through the sewers; they claim that the person is not of the 4th Division though, as of right now, none of them have been able to get a good look at the person to positively identify," Hanataro explained as both Ichigo and the other intruder, a man from the Rukongai region named Ganji Shiba, secretly hoped that this person was either a tall tale or, if they were real, that they would not be in the sewer right now.

This would, apparently, not be the case.

"Why don't we change that, then, since I'm here now," a voice from the darkness said, causing Ichigo and the others to stop in their tracks.

Ichigo gripped Zangetsu as he responded to the voice, prepared to fight whoever this opponent might be.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked as Zangetsu was unsheathed; Ichigo looked at the path in front of him since the voice appeared to come from that direction.

Hanataro, having recognized the voice, suddenly paled as he had a good idea of why that person was there.

"It can't be... you're the one who's been using the sewer passages?" Hanataro asked in horror to which the person responded to the affirmative. Ichigo, his patience growng thin, had had enough of this person's mind games.

"Show yourself, damn it!" Ichigo commanded to which the person sighed.

"You don't have to tell me that; I was going to do that anyways," the person said; the person soon stood before the three would-be rescuers, their appearance made visible to them by one the fluorescent lightbulbs that provided dim lighting to the underground network.

It was a guy about Ichigo's age, though a little shorter than he was, with short and spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a standard shihakusho with an orange sash wrapped around his waist, an armband that had a badge of some sort around his left sleeve, and a black headband, with a metal plate emblazoned with the Kanji for 'Shinobi' sewn onto it, wrapped around his forehead. He had his zanpakuto, which was a katana with an orange hilt and a red spiral-patterned tsuba, sheathed and secured to his sash. The first thing that caught Ichigo's mind as being unusual, however, were the six marks on guy's face, three on each cheek, that resembled whiskers; they made him look like some sort of fox. The second, and more important, thing that made this guy stand out from the other shinigami Ichigo had encountered until then was the massive amount of reiatsu that emanated from him, as it was greater than anything Ichigo had ever felt in his short time as a shinigami.

Ichigo prepared for what he thought would be the most difficult battle he had fought until then as the mystery guy turned his gaze towards him.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked. The guy pointed his right thumb as his headband as he answered.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Lieutenant of the 13th Division," he declared, shocking both Ganju and Ichigo.

"How the hell can a lieutenant have so much reiatsu; I had a feeling that the lieutenants were no pushover, but this is ridiculous," Ganju said.

It was a sentiment that was also shared by Ichigo as the orange-haired shinigami had fought a lieutenant, in this case Renji Abarai, before and even he, with his crappy senses, could tell that guy before him now was on another level, another planet even, by comparison. If this guy's power was far greater than another lieutenant, then why was he at the same rank.

"Because all the spots for Captain are already taken plus I haven't acheived one of the major requirements yet. That's enough about me, though," Naruto said as he focused his stare at Ichigo again.

"Are you Ichigo Kurosaki? The one that Rukia talked about?" he asked, surprising Ichigo who took a while before he made a response.

"I guess I am; what's it to you?" Ichigo asked to which Naruto sighed.

"Why are you here? Is it perhaps to save her?" Naruto asked, giving the impression that he ignored Ichigo's question.

"Yes, I am, and I just asked you why does it matter to you?" Ichigo asked with the irritation he felt clearly evident in his voice.

"It matters to me because Rukia and I are in the same division, you baka," Naruto replied, stunning Ichigo with his statement; before Ichigo could say anything, however, Naruto continued to speak.

"Based on what Rukia told me I have a feeling that you and I are alike in many ways. (sighs) Unlike you, however, I still don't know what to do about her execution; that's why I'm going to put you to the test... to see if you're truly strong enough to save her. I think that if I do that then I can answer that question," Naruto said.

Ganju, at this point, went up to Ichigo, who was standing a few yards away from Naruto.

"He could be setting a trap for us, Ichigo; how can we be sure he ain't lying-" the Shiba clansman said before Ichigo cut him off.

"I can already tell you that he isn't lying to us, Ganju. If he had wanted to defeat us, he could of done it the moment he spotted us; even I could tell that the difference in our powers is just too great. If he wanted to simply end our rescue he could've knocked us out before we knew what happened; he's pretty good at concealing his reiatsu. Instead he confronted us head-on so I'm willing to take a leap of faith here," Ichigo said before he turned his attention to Naruto.

"What's this little test you have in mind?" he asked the lieutenant, who flashed a smirk.

"It's nothing too complicated; all you have to do is fight me. You don't have to beat, though; all you have to do is wound me once. It doesn't even have to be a serious wound, though we'll noth be using what powers we need in order to win; if you can do that then'll you've passed. Any questions?" Naruto explained as he unsheathed his zanpakuto.

"What are we waiting for? Let's do this, Naruto Uzumaki!" Ichigo said as both he and Naruto charged at each other.

It wasn't long before their blades to collide with each other, signifying that the two shinigami had begun their battle...

Next Time - Finding an Answer: Naruto vs. Ichigo


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Finding an Answer: Naruto vs. Ichigo**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and/or Bleach

[Underground Sewer System, Seireitei, Soul Society]

_Current Time..._

As Naruto and Ichigo clashed in the sewers below the Seireitei both Ganju and Hanataro watched with the shock they were feeling clearly etched into their faces. Ganju was shocked at seeing this display of power on Naruto's part; even though it was clear that the blond-haired shinigami was using less than a quarter of his strength he was clearly getting the better of his opponent, who looked like he had been run over by a freight train while Naruto had yet to receive even a single wound.

Hanataro, on the other hand, was amazed by the fact that Naruto had not taken Ichigo down after 20 minutes had passed. Hanataro had witnessed what the former shinobi was capable of with using that level of strength when Naruto protected him from a couple of 11th Division members who had been bullying him around. The amount of strength Naruto was fighting at right now was at the level of a captain so the fact that Ichigo was still able to fight him was nothing short of a miracle.

Naruto was also impressed by Ichigo's strength even as he had forced the orange-haired shinigami on the defensive; with the exception of his fellow shinobigami and the Captains that he fought when they tried to gauge his strength everyone else would've lost a fight against him in the first few minutes. Ichigo has not only managed to keep fighting him the would-be rescuer had even managed to tire Naruto out considerably as he had been forced to use both his Shunpo and Kido against Ichigo.

Ichigo suddenly swung Zangetsu as Naruto's chest before the blonde could continue his attack; as Naruto Shunpoed yet again he took a moment to note Ichigo's massive amount of reiatsu before he pointed his right index finger at Ichigo.

"Hado # 4. Byakurai," Naruto said he generated a concentrated lightning bolt that he then discharged iat Ichigo.

The orange-haired managed to dodge the attack as Naruto suddenly appeared above him.

"You're not bad, Ichigo, but you're going to have to try harder than that," Naruto said rather bluntly as he swung his zanpakuto at Ichigo's head.

"I'm not finished just yet, Naruto Uzumaki so don't act as if I am already beaten. You may be much stronger than I am but I won't give up; I have to rescue Rukia and if that means passing this little test of yours then I will do it," Ichigo said in response to Naruto's comment; Naruto already knew that Ichigo was not finished but was trying to push the human to see just how muc strength he had.

After blocking Naruto's slash Ichigo, to the former shinobi's surprise, stopped moving and had placed his zanpakuto on his shoulders.

Naruto wasn't the only one that was confused by Ichigo's actions as both Hanataro and Ganju were also taken aback by this.

"_What the hell is Ichigo doing?_" Ganju thought to himself as Ichigo just stood in that position, unmoving.

"Uh... are you okay Ichig- WAHHHH!" Hanataro said as a sudden and massive burst of reiatsu emanated throughout the area; since the underground sewers were so deep below the suface that only those in the passages would've felt this upsurge in power.

Naruto looked on as Ichigo suddenly turned his glare towards him; the former shinobi's eyes widened as Ichigo's eyes suddenly glowed a light blue.

"I sorry to keep you waiting... but I now it's time to show you my resolve, Naruto Uzumaki," Ichigo said as Naruto looked at him in shock before he flash a smirk.

"_Resolve, huh? So it is your will that's has helped you through all this,_" Naruto thought to himself as he prepared to dodge the oncoming attack.

The shinobigami was surprised when Ichigo lifted his massive blade; with the blade pointed towards the celing it looked as if he intended to slash at Naruto despite the fact that he was 20 feet from the blonde.

Ichigo then swung his zanpakuto which, to Naruto's surprise, unleashed some sort of massive beam of reiatsu as it was swung; before anyone realized it the beam reached Naruto who suddenly vanished behind the light generated by Ichigo's attack. After a few moments the attack finally dissipated leaving behing a column of smoke and a canyon-like chasm on the floor of the hallway.

Ichigo looked on as his breathing became slow and heavy.

"_Did I get him that time?_" Ichigo asked himself as he fell to his knees, his exhaustion and wounds having finally caught up to him; though Ichigo assume that Naruto did survived the attack he wasn't sure if Naruto was able to fully escape the onslaught.

As the column of smoke continued to dissipate at a slow pace Ichigo and his two companions suddenly heard Naruto say something that shocked all three of them.

"You something else Ichigo, you know that? You actually managed to wound me," Naruto said as the smoke finaly cleared enough for the three would-be rescuers to see what had happened. Ichigo and Ganju couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Naruto stood before them as if he was still unscathed; it was hard to tell, however, as the shinobigami's entire body was now enveloped by what appeared to be a reiatsu shroud that was in the form of flickering yellow flames. Naruto now wore what appeared to be a necklace made of magatama beads while an image of a larger magatama appeared on the shroud where it enveloped Naruto's abdomen; the round circle of larger bead-like image was itself strange as it looked like a spiral pattern of some sort. In addition to the shroud Naruto's hair was now spiked up with the two endmost locks now resembling horns; as final change in his appearance Naruto's eyes had changed colo, turning from blue to orange. The change in appearance was accompanied by a increase in reiatsu that only Ichigo could withstand without being pinned down to the floor though he had already fallen to his knees prior to this form. (A/N: Naruto just used his Nine-Tails[Kyubi] Chakra Mode [KCM])

Ichigo was shocked but, surprisingly, it wasn't from either the changes in Naruto's appearance or power.

"Why are you still unscathed? I thought you said that I wounded you," Ichigo said to which Naruto sighed.

"You did wound me, baka. If I hadn't unleashed this form when I did that wound would've actually been fatal," Naruto explained away.

Naruto then, to everyone's shock, dispersed the form that he had taken which undid both the increase in his powers and the change in appearance. When the KCM dispersed Ichigo, Ganju, and especially Hanataro, were surprised to see that Naruto had indeed been wounded; the blond-haired shinigami had what was clearly a slash wound that reached his left shoulder to what appeared to be inches above where his heart and major blood vessels. Ichigo realized what that wound meant if his smirk was anything to go by.

"I guess I passed your little test, Naruto," Ichigo said as his two companions got back to their feet.

"So you did, Ichigo," Naruto said as he motioned for Hanataro to heal the orange-haired shinigami.

As Hanataro began to heal a reluctant Kurosaki he turned his gaze to Naruto's wound. Naruto noticed Yamada's concerned expression and waved it off.

"You don't have to worry about me, Hanataro; you should already know that this wound will probably be healed in a few minutes anyways so focus your attention to Ichigo," Naruto reasoned.

The former shinobi then turned his attention to both Ganju and the somehow concious Ichigo when he saw that both had expressions on their faces that screamed confusion.

"I guess this would be the best time for an explanation about who I am and what I'm going to do now. Am I right?" Naruto asked; he sighed when the two men nodded as he realized that this would take a while...

_Two Hours Later..._

Naruto had finished his explanation to Ichigo and Ganju a few minutes prior and was now headed towards the sewer entrance that was located right next to the barracks of his division. After getting the group to agree to not talk about anything that he said to them after he parted from them Naruto told them about himself, including a little bit about his past life since all of the shinobigami did remember their past, and about the existence of the shinobigami the former shinobi then agreed to let Ichigo and his friends continue their efforts to rescue Rukia.

Naruto, thanks to his battle with Kurosaki, even agreed to help the intruders with the rescue. Due to the suspicious nature of Rukia's execution, however, Naruto told the group that he would not join the group as it would be better if he got the other shinobigami to help them as well. Though Ichigo was suspicious of Naruto's claim he finally relented after a few minutes. After taking a few more minutes to explain he planned to do to the the group Naruto left, having agreed to meet with Ichigo and his friends, including those that were not present, once Rukia had been rescued. Naruto, despite being aware of the possible maniplations surrounding Rukia's sentence, decided not to tell Ichigo of these dark designs just yet as he had no solid proof of them.

Naruto decided to ask his dad to hold a meeting with the other shinobigami to inform them of the situation and to plan their course of action. Naruto didn't have to worry about the possibility of any of them refusing to help since they had been planning to deal with this situation anyways though the group of former shinobi had yet to decided if they would have to forcibly stop the execution.

As Naruto finally reached the ladder leading to the sewer entrance he reflected on what had happened in these hallways today; he was especially reflected on his opponent, a thought that was not lost on the part of his inner entities.

"_It's just like Rukia said, Naruto, he is a lot like you,_" a familiar voice said to him from within his mind.

"_I guess he is, Kurama, though I'm shocked that his powers are still growing even now. To think that he's already at the level that he is makes me wonder if he even knows how much potential,_" Naruto replied.

"_Says the kid who is already at the level where he can obtain bankai yet refuses to do so,_" another voice said in a mocking tone; this caused a giant vein to suddenly poke out of Naruto's forehead.

"_Are you seriously going to bring that up? I thought that we agreed to honor my dad's request to wait for that until us shinobigami have dealt with that sanke Aizen and his two lackeys,_" Naruto said in an irritated tone before he heard that same voice sigh at what he said.

"_We did agree to that, Naruto. But let's imagine for a moment that Aizen is the one responsible for this entire ordeal and that he finally make his move against the Soul Society. Even though you're able to see past his illusions your shikai isn't going to be enough to deal with him. If you really want to save Rukia you're going to have to make that decision... and it has to be made now, Naruto,_" the voice said. Just as Naruto was about to sigh at this lecture Kurama stepped in.

"_This guy may get on my nerves everytime we have a conversation, Naruto, but he does have a point,_" the Tailed Beast said in agreement.

"_You've always known how to push my buttons don't you..._ _Kamikaze_(Translation: Divine Wind)_? I guess I shouldn't be surprised since you are my zanpakuto. (sighs) You do realize that I already know all of this, right? Because I know all of that already I was going to tell you as well as Kurama that I planned to finally begin my Bankai training after I have this meeting with the others,_" Naruto said. Both of his internal resident were surprised by this but were unable to say anything before Naruto continued to speak.

"_I promised my dad that I would wait a bit before I began that training; if Aizen is the one who's responsible for Rukia's sentence, however, I can't afford to wait any longer. I going to need that power to deal with that man so I'm going to ask Shisui-sensei to help me with my training which I plan to begin tonight. As for my dad... as long as it actually helps us in stopping Aizen what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?,_" Naruto explained. The former shinobi could tell that Kamikaze ws smirking after hearing all of this as he began to climb the ladder out of the sewers...

Next Time - Preparations


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Preparations**

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Naruto was losing his patience as he waited, alongside the other lieutenants, for the officer of the 4th Division that was supposed to deliver the lastest update on the situation with Ichigo and the other intruders two hours ago.

After getting out of the underground sewers Naruto first headed to his room in the 13th Division to change into another shihakusho so as to not arouse suspicions with the tear that his earlier uniform now sported. After changing and placing his zanpakuto in his room he went to find his father. He managed to find his dad at the 5th Division Barracks and managed to get him to hold a meeting with the other shinobigami; before either Naruto or Minato could even look for the others, however, a Hell Butterfly came with orders for all lieutenants to head to their assembly area to receive the latest report on the "Ryoka Invasion".

Naruto and his dad had arrived at the meeting room first with Haku, Fugaku, and Hiruzen arriving shortly afterwards; Minato managed to inform the three of Naruto's encounter with Ichigo and of the meeting they would hold before all of the other lieutenants, minus Yachiru Kusajishi of the 11th Division, arrived.

As the lieutenants now waited for the report to arrive Naruto was talking with fell Renji as well as Rangiku Matsumoto, the lieutenant of the 10th Division.

"I guess I can't say I'm surprised; this Ichigo guy sounds way too much like myself and my predecessor Kaien, after all," Naruto said, making sure that he acted as though he had yet to meet Kurosaki.

Renji had just told Naruto of the conversation he had with Rukia as he escorted her to the Senzaikyū; the part where Rukia reacted to the knowledge that Ichigo was still alive was the part that Naruto was responding to.

"That may be true, Naruto, but I doubt he has as much skill as either of you," Rangiku said.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Lieutenant Matsumoto," another voice said in response; the three lieutenants turned around and were surprised to see that it was Fugaku that had replied.

"These intruders were able to defeat Jidanbō, survived an encounter with Captain Ichimaru and were able to able to breach the Soul Shield Membrane; we have to assume that they're all very strong and very dangerous if they have already caused this much trouble," the former head of the Uchiha clan explained without revealing everything else that he now knew, surprising both Ranji and Matsumoto.

"Do you really think the Ryoka are that much of a threat?" Rangiku asked to which Fugaku nodded.

"Of course I'm sure that the officer from the 4th Division will now prove my point," Fugaku said; as if on cue a man suddenly appeared at the door of the Assembly Room.

"3rd Seat of the 4th Division Yasochika Iemura, reporting," the man said; before he could say anything else, however, Naruto made his presence known to the 3rd Seat in two sentences.

"YOU'RE LATE! YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR THAT OR YOU CAN KISS YOUR SORRY ASS GOODBYE!" Naruto roared in a clearly irritated tone as Renji attempted to hold him back; the former shinobi already had too little time to waste on these reports and this officer had made it even worse.

Iemura's face paled as he tried not to provoke the Lieutenant, accidently or otherwise, any further; the 3rd Seat hadn't seen the Uzumaki lose his temper personally but had heard enough of the stories to know that he didn't want to get on Naruto's bad side... assuming he wasn't already there, that is.

"My apologies, Lieutenant Uzumaki; I was delayed due to some last minute updates of great importance," Iemura explained.

Naruto, having calmed down thanks to Renji'ss intervention, raised an eyebrow upon hearing the last part of the 3rd Seated Officer's explanation.

"_What could be so damned important that could've forced us to wait two hours more than we were supposed to?_" Naruto thought to himself; he would get his answer soon enough as Iemura immediately began reading the report that was in his hands...

_Five Minutes Later..._

"... the preliminary reports appear to suggest that the entire 11th Division, with the exceptions of Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi, and the 4th Seated Officer Zabuza Momochi, was completely wiped out," Iemura said as he briefed the lieutenants on the part of the report regarding the events that had occured today as of right now; the first few minutes of the report were little more than summary of what had happened to this morning which, needless to say, annoyed several of the officers.

The mood changed, however, when Iemura briefed the lieutenants on the defeats of the 3rd Seated Officer Ikkaku Madarame and the 5th Seated Officer Yumichika Ayasegawa, both of whom were from the 11th Division; the fact that two high ranked officers were defeated by "Ryoka" was already a big shock. But an entire Division being beaten? The reactions of some of the lieutenants to this bit news were not very surprising.

"That's impossible!" Izuru Kira, the lieutenant of the 3rd Division, said.

"The 11th Division is gone?!" Renji asked in shock. The rage that he was suddenly feeling was understandable due to the fact that Ichigo was among the intruders and his close relations with his former division.

"How were these Ryoka able to do so much damage in just a few hours?" Chōjirō Sasakibe, the 1st Division Lieutenant, blurted out.

The shinobigami, while also feeling very bad for all the members 11th Division who were now casualties, thought of the defeat of the division in a more critical light compared to their fellow lieutenants even if they didn't say those thoughts out loud.

"_They charged headfirst into battle against an enemy without knowing who they were dealing with. What did they expect would happen?_" Fugaku asked rhetotically to himself.

"_The 11th Division is even more poorly disciplined than I imagined; I guess this also proves that Naruto was right about Kurosaki, though,_" Minato thought to himself.

"_Master Zabuza always said that the members of his Division were all talk, minus Captian Zaraki,_" Haku thought as he shook his head; he remembered that Zabuza had told him of his rather poor opinion of his own division.

"_Honestly, did they really want to start a war that badly?_" was the thought on Hiruzen's mind at that moment.

"_And people call me an idiot. I almost feel sorry for Zabuza since he has to deal with those dumbasses everyday,_" Naruto thought as he sighed.

After shaking off these thoughts they then continued listening to the report; as Iemura finished his report the Lieutenants went back to their respective barracks...

[Shinobigami Meeting Place, Undisclosed Location within the Seireitei]

_Sometime in the Evening..._

This secret chamber was a modest room by most standards; it was basically an semi-spherical interior with a two-story high ceiling which was solid bedrock and a small stone urn in the center in which a fire been burning. Inside this room Naruto and the other eight former shinobi stood in a circle; they had already finished discussing what had happened between Naruto and the intruders earlier that day as well as the plan of action they would now take.

"So that's the plan; any questions?" Naruto asked; as this meeting was his idea he was basically the one would be in charge of what the shinobigami planned to do now.

When no one answered Minato decided ask his son an important question of his own to ending the meeting so that they could all prepare for what they planned.

"Naruto were you able to retrieve it?" Minato asked.

"It was a pain to go through with it and I'm sure Rukia is going to kill me when she finds out, but that creep Mayuri was able to help me obtain it; I made sure that he wouldn't say anything about what happened until this is all over. I'll give it to Old Man Yama at that point," Naruto said, getting a nod from his father.

"I guess that's it, then," Minato said, ending the meeting.

With that everyone began to head towards the exit... except Naruto.

"Wait, Shisui-sensei; can I ask you something before you go?" Naruto asked; Shisui stopped in his tracks as Naruto waited for everyone to leave before he finally asked his mentor if he could help him with his Bankai training.

Shisui was taked by surprise at this sudden turnaround; though Naruto was had been more than capable of learning Bankai for quite some time he had not even attempted it due to his father's request to wait which Naruto had honored p until that time.

"Are you sure want to do that, Naruto? I'm sure Minato is going to protest-" Shisui said before Naruto interrupted him.

"Then I won't tell dad that I'm trying to obtain my Bankai; you know that we're going to have use everything we have to stop that damned Aizen. You said that you discovered a secret training area near Sōkyoku Hill so we can use that place to train," Naruto said.

Shisui sighed at this; the Uchiha guessed that, with Rukia now an unwilling pawn in Aizen's schemes, Naruto was now taking this matter very seriously and was not going to take no for an answer if he felt that this was something he had to do.

"I guess I can help you since it appears that you're not going to take no for an answer; understand, however, that I'm only . You do remember what my explanation about how one obtains his or her Bankai, right?" Shisui reminded him to which Naruto nodded.

"Very well, then; I guess I'll help you out. We should wait until tomorrow, however, as you still have that Lieutenant's meeting in the morning," Shisui pointed out.

Naruto groaned at remembering that; though his sensei was right in telling him to wait for that meeting, since their wouldn't be any more meetings, he was still getting tired of them.

"_With all these useless meetings I'm amazed that everyone else is surprised that Ichigo and his friends have evaded capture,_" Naruto thought to himself as he and his sensei left the meeting chamber for the night...

[Secret Training Area, Sokyoku Hill]

_The Next Day at Noon..._

"I can't believe a place this big has been hidden from everyone else right below the execution grounds; I wonder would go out of their ," Naruto said, rather amazed at the size of the place.

"I sometimes wonder about the same thing, though I guess that's a moot point," Shisui said, getting a nod from his longtime student.

"In any case we need to get started, since that snake Aizen is probably going to make his move at any moment," Naruto said; he, like the rest of the former shinobi, knew that they were running out of time to stop Aizen's plans.

The night and morning after the meeting had brought even more chaos to the Seireitei. There were many things that had happened in that time; Renji's defeat to Ichigo and the authorization for the use of one's zanpakuto made the tension in the Seireitei increase to unbearable levels. Then there was the Aizen's "murder" which only made the anxiety in the air worse for every; while most of the other shinigami were simply devastated by the "loss" of Aizen, especially the 5th Division 4th Seated Officer, Momo Hinamori, the former shinobi knew that this meant that Aizen had begun to make his move.

Realizing that it wouldn't be long before they had to confront Aizen his subordinates Naruto immediately excused himself from the growing commotion at the scene of Aizen's "murder" and went to find Shisui; after Naruto informed the Uchiha what had happened they both headed to the secret training room, flash stepping as quickly as that they could make sure that no one was following them.

Naruto shook off these thoughts before Shisui gave him one final warning.

"Before we begin Naruto I want that you understand this very well; even though we still have eight days until Rukia's execution there's still a chance that Aizen might try to push up the date much sooner than that. So to be safe I'm going to give you until this midnight to subjugate your zanpakuto second longer; if you can't do it by that time you'll just have to confront without a bankai," Shisui said, making sure that his student understood what he said word-for-word.

Naruto simply smirked in response to his sensei's warning.

"Then I'll just have to obtain my Bankai before then," Naruto replied confidently; though he was rather surprised at how little time he would be given Naruto knew that he was already pushing his and Rukia's luck enough as it is by taking this time to train so he would just have to work with what time he had.

"Very well, then; start by activating your Shikai," Shisui said as he set a timer for midnight; Naruto nodded before he unsheathed his blade.

"Open the floodgates, Kamikaze," Naruto said as he threw his zanpakuto into the air, the tip of the pointed towards the ceiling.

The blade then stopped midair as a small cloud suddenly formed above it; the cloud began growing in size and darkness until, after a few seconds, the cloud turned into a small thunderstorm a couple hundred yards wide. The moment the cloud reached this size a very powerful lighting bolt struck Naruto's blade, which was still hovering in the air. After the flash of light dissipated the blade fell into Naruto's grasp revealing Kamikaze's Shikai form.

The blade was now a lightning bolt that had been compressed into the shape of a chokutō sword (A/N: the type of sword that Sasuke wields in Naruto Shippuden) which was releasing small gusts of wind as Naruto held the blade. A small yellow tag was now attached to the base of the hilt with the Kanjis for lightning, water, and wind written on it.

"Now what, Shisui-sensei?" Naruto asked as he attempted to contain the sporadic release of wind from his blade.

"Have the spirit of Kamikaze materialize; I'll use my reiatsu to help maintain it long enough for you to try to subjugate him," Shisui explained ; since Naruto could only keep the spirit of Kamikaze materialized for a few hours without aid, due to the fact that he had only learned to do so very recently, Shisui would keep the zanpakuto spirit materialized until his student achieved Bankai... or until midnight arrived, whichever one came first.

Naruto, without saying another word, focused his reiatsu into his blade which in turn generated more light until an explosion of lighting radiated across the training grounds; had anyone been standing on the hill above the secret room they would've felt a slight tremor caused by the powerful shockwave generated by the explosion. Thankfully for both shinobigami no one was close enough to Sōkyoku Hill notice anything out of the ordinary.

As the light generated by the blast dissipated along the temporary loss of hearing caused by the subsequent thunderclap both Naruto and Shisui could hear another person, presumably a male from the sound of his voice, called out to them.

"Took you long enough to finally do that, don't you think... Lil' Naruto?" the voice said in a clearly mocking tone...

Next Time - Preparation Complete: The "Shinobigami" Move Out

Next Time - The "Shinobigami" Move Out


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Preparations Complete: The "Shinobigami" Move Out**

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Disclaimer: Still applies

[Secret Training Area, Sokyoku Hill]

Recap:

As the light generated by the blast dissipated along the temporary loss of hearing generated caused by the subsequent thunderclap went away both Naruto and Shisui could hear another person, presumably a male from the sound of his voice, called out to them.

"Took you long enough to finally do that, don't you think... Lil' Naruto?" the voice said in a clearly mocking tone...

Next Time – Clash! Aizen

_Current Time..._

A giant vein popped out of Naruto forehead when he heard his zanapkuto's nickname for him.

"For once in your miserable life, Kamikaze, would you stop calling me that stupid nickname?!" Naruto said with great irritation as the spirit of Kamikaze became visible through the dissipating cloud of dust.

It was a man who appeared to be in his late teens who was around six feet tall with a lean build. He had spiky black hair that went well below his waist and was tied into a ponytail, as well as blood-red eyes with black slits due to the partial influence of Kurama's power.

Kamikaze wore what could only be described as a coat of lighting shaped into the form of the "samurai-like" armor that was once used by many shinobi before the founding of the shinobi villages; along with this armor the zanpakuto wore a black undershirt with sleeves that reached below his elbows, black pants that went to the middle of his shins, black shinobi sandals, a blood-red shinobi headband that had metal plate with the stylized leaf symbol of Konoha emblazoned on the metal, and a red sash tied around his waist. He held a blade in his right hand that was basically the pure lighting chokutō that Naruto would wield when using his Shikai except this one was a few inches shorter than that version and instead of a tag attached to the bottom of the hilt a thin rope made out of pure lighting was attached; the rope connected the sword to Kamikaze's sash and, with the rope being made of lightning, it could expand to whatever length the zanpakuto spirit desired.

As Naruto fumed at Kamikaze's "insult" the zanpakuto simply flashed a smile at his partner's irritation.

"But I like calling you that; it let's me push your buttons all the more easily, Lil' Naruto," Kamikaze said in response to the lieutenant's annoyance.

Naruto, not surprisingly, got even more steamed at his zanpakuto's mannerisms. Unlike the zanpakuto spirits of some of shinigami the other Kamikaze didn't have any issues with Naruto, or even Kurama for that matter, but the zanpakuto did enjoy annoying the hell out of both the Biju and his Jinchuriki just to get an amusing reaction from the two.

Shisui decided to refocus Naruto's attention on the task at hand before the Uzumaki tried to kill his own zanpakuto and end his life as a shinigami in the process.

"Enough of this nonsense, the both of you," Shisui demanded, getting the attention of both Naruto and Kamikaze before turning his attention to the zanpakuto.

"Now then, Kamikaze; based on your little conversation with Naruto it's obvious that you already know why you're here and that you've overheard what has been said so I won't ask. Once I stabilize your materialization I assume that you can begin right away?" Shisui asked the manifested zanpakuto.

"Yep," was the only reply Kamikaze gave.

As soon as the zanpakuto said that Shisui shunpoed in front of the zanpakuto and placed his hand on the manifested spirit's chest and began to channel some of his reiatsu into him until, after a minute or two, the Uchiha managed to completely stabilize the manifestation of the zanpakuto.

Once Shisui finished the manifested Kamikaze placed his left palm into the ground which apparently caused hundreds of blades, in the form of the spirit's Shikai, to emerge; all of these blades were stuck in the ground in a vertical position as Kamikaze picked on of them up as the blade and the rope it was attached to had suddenly vanished.

"Now then, Naruto, your challenge is very simple. One of these blades is the true me and is the only one that can defeat me; you have to find it before I can kill you since I'll attacking you the whole time entire, or before your time runs out, and defeat me with it. Oh and everytime you pick up the wrong blade there's a nasty... surprise that'll await you," Kamikaze explained.

The last part of the zanpakuto's explanation made Naruto shudder as his zanpakuto had a slightly dark sense of humor and he wasn't very shy about it. Naruto reached for the closest blade to him with a great deal of anxiety... and for good reason because the moment he made contact with the blade's hilt he was zapped but good by said blade before it disappeared.

After a couple of seconds Naruto regained feeling in his right hand at which point he turned to glare at the smiling Kamikaze.

"You are a cruel man, you know that?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"Now, now, Lil' Naruto, being a critic isn't going to help you get bankai any sooner," Kamikaze said which provoked his wielder even further.

After Naruto attempted to grab another blade, and getting zapped as a result, he turned to face his zanpakuto just as he dodged his zanpakuto's first attack.

"When I get my hands on the true you you're so dead, Kamikaze," Naruto declared as he conitnued his effforts to find the "true" Kamikaze...

(A/N: I'm going to skip this fight since it would take too long for me to write especially due to the nature of this chapter)

_Almost Six Hours Later..._

...which he managed to do, over four hours after the training had begun.

It had not been an easy task, of course, and the fact that he had to find the correct blade while the manisfested Kamikaze was continously attacking him made the task more daunting. Eventually, however, Naruto found the blade that was the true form of Kamikaze and, after fighting the manifested zanpakuto spirit for another grueling hour, the Uzumaki managed to defeat Kamikaze using a combination of swordsmanship, a combination various Kido spells, and the Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode to finally subjugate Kamikaze and obtain his bankai.

After Kamikaze took half an hour to explain the nature of his bankai to Naruto the shinobigami finally undid his zanpakuto's manifestation. With another two hours before the next scheduled lieutenant's meeting, he used the special hot spring located within the training area to heal himself since the training he'd just undergone left him too seriously injured for even Kurama to heal his wounds quickly without any aid.

As Naruto quickly got himself dressed in another shihakusho he turned to Shisui who had just woken up from a short nap he had taken while waiting for his student.

"Did you sense those approaching reiatsus, sensei?" Naruto asked to which the Uchiha nodded.

"Yeah, and they're clearly not a members of the Gotei 13 whom I'm aware of; based on the huge amounts of reiatsu these two must be with the intruders," Shisui reasoned.

Naruto smirked at this.

"Oh, they definitely are, Shisui-sensei; after all I fought one of those two intruders earlier," Naruto said just as the sources of the reiatsu appeared.

One of them was a dark-skinned and woman who was a little over five feet tall with a slender figure, golden colored eyes that were cat-like in appearance, and long purple hair that she kept in a ponytail. She wore an orange shirt, under which she wore what appeared to be a black undershirt, black stretch pants, light brown shoes and a pale brown sash that she wore around her waist.

The woman was not the one who had Naruto's attention, however; it was the other person who the woman was carrying on her shoulder... an unconcious and badly injured Ichigo.

While Naruto stood there, looking at Ichigo's condition in shock, Shisui focused his attention on the woman.

"You must be one of the intruders, correct?" the Uchiha asked to which the woman nodded in reply.

Shisui raised an eyebrow at this.

"Why did you come to this place if they're two potential enemies already here? With your level of power I'm sure you would've detected us," he asked with curiosity.

Even though Shisui could tell that this woman was easily at the level of a captain based on her reiatsu, despite her efforts to hide it, the Uchiha thought that this woman would not come here when there were two potential threats in the area. While Shisui, Naruto, and the other Shinobigami intended to help with Rukia's rescue there was no way she could've known about that... or so Shisui thought.

The woman simply smirked.

"Considering the fact that you two haven't attacked me yet I'm pretty sure that's not the case especially since you shinobigami plan to rescue Rukia as well... Naruto Uzumaki and Shisui Uchiha," the women rhetorically asked in a teasing tone.

Both Shisui and Naruto couldn't believe what this woman just said; she not only knew their names she also knew about their group's plan. Naruto did what most shinigami would've probably expected the Uzumaki to do in that situation; he unleashed a massive barrage of questions upon the mysterious woman.

"How did you know who we are and what were planning? Who the hell are you? Why are you here? What are doing carrying Ichigo on your shoulder? And why does he look like he got into a fight with the eyepatch psycho?" Naruto asked (A/N: If you can't figure it out that's the nickname Naruto uses to refer to Kenpachi Zaraki), unaware of just how on the mark he actually was.

Shisui's eyes widened upon hearing his student's last question... but for a very different reason than one might expect.

"_So that boy she's carrying on her shoulder is Ichigo Kurosaki; no wonder Naruto took an interest in him... with all that reiatsu that he has it's amazing that he's just a human,_" the Uchiha thought to himself as the women simply smiked at Naruto's questioning.

"Well... it'll take a while to explain it all to you so I'll start off with an introduction. My name is Yoruichi Shihoin," the now named Yoruichi said...

[Shinobigami Meeting Place]

_The Following Night..._

Naruto was in the hideout with the rest of the former shinobi dicussing the furthering of their plans to save Rukia recent and to stop Aizen as well as the recent turn of events; needless to say it was a very long turn.

The first, and the most important, was Naruto and Shisui's talk with the intruder named Yoruichi, who explained the situation regarding Ichigo and 13 the other intruders. Ichigo had tried to break Rukia out of the Senzaikyū but Yoruichi was forced to render him unconcious and bring him to the secret training ground after Byakuya and Ukitake arrived at the holding cell. Yoruichi then told the two former shinobi that she intended to train Ichigo in order to have him obtain his own bankai in order to save Rukia. Neither shinobi really questioned the possibility since the orange-haired shinigami had the necessary reiatsu to acheive that level.

Though she left a few of Naruto's questions unanswered they really didn't have that time to receive the answers for them due to the lieutenants meeting due to begin an hour from then the three shinigami decided to simply focus on their individual rescue efforts for the time being.

After exiting the training area Naruto made a beeline to the lieutenant's meeting which he got to with ten minutes to spare.

After the meeting, which was late at night, Naruto and the other shinobigami headed to their secret meeting place.

"Does everyone know what to do?" Naruto asked, referring to the various "jobs" that he and the other former shinobi were going to do as part of their plans to save Rukia. The others nodded in response; despite having to adjust their plans to the situation the changes weren't very drastic so they were implemented very quickly.

Naruto sighed in relief at this since he really didn't have time for setbacks; the fact that Rukia's execution had been moved to the following and the fact that the young lieutenant had to juggle around with three different rescue attempts (the shinobigami, the intruders, and both Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku were all trying to save Rukia's life) meant that he had little time for setbacks.

"All, then; let's get some rest. The fight begins tomorrow," Naruto declared; as the former shinobi dispersed he realized that tomorrow was going to be a very _long _day...

Next Time – The Forestalled Ambition

vs. the "Shinobigami"


End file.
